Glenn Close reprises her award-winning off-Broadway role as a Victorian-era cross-dresser in "Albert Nobbs," one of two opening-night movies in the 34th Mill Valley Film Festival. The other opener is the new comedy by Jay and Mark Duplass, "Jeff Who Lives at Home," starring Jason Segel, Ed Helms and Susan Sarandon.

The festival, which runs Oct. 6 to 16, announced its schedule Tuesday.

"It's unique the way these opening-night films complement each other," Executive Director Mark Fishkin said. "Normally you would think that 'Jeff Who Lives at Home' is a straightforward comedy, the kind you see Jason Segel or Ed Helms in, like 'The Hangover.' But it's much more; it's spiritual in nature and contemporary. It culminates in one of the most inspiring endings you'll ever see. You'll just be floating on air.

"And then 'Albert Nobbs,' you can wait a decade for an opening film like this. This is so spectacular, it's a period piece, but so loving, and believable and poignant. And you're talking about Glenn Close, one of the most admirable actors in several generations."

Close will also be the subject of an in-person tribute later in the festival. Among other notable festival guests will be director Luc Besson and actress Michelle Yeoh, whose new film, "The Lady," about Burmese peace activist and politician Aung San Suu Kyi, will receive the Mill Valley Award.

"This is a fantastic chronicle of the very vibrant and often incredibly innovative work of Bay Area theater artists," said Zoë Elton, the festival's programming director. Among other documentaries with local connections:

The event One Through Love, centered on the works of the poet and Sufi mystic Rumi, includes film segments from several nations and will allow festivalgoers to engage in a "live global Web dialogue" with groups in Turkey, Iran and Morocco.

"Raiders of the Lost Ark," a movie with lots of Marin ties (George Lucas wrote the story, for one), will get a 30th anniversary screening, with the festival promising games, prizes and "surprise guests."